Many large excavators are provided with bucket assemblies. The bucket assemblies can be used to remove earth, tar sand, etc. In a typical excavator, a lip is welded to an edge of a bucket body. The lip, viewed head-on or looking into the bucket, may be skewed rearwardly at its two opposite ends. Chisel-shaped excavating teeth are coupled to the lip and are used for digging. The lip can have a means for removably securing the teeth to the lip so that worn or damaged teeth can be replaced. Damaged or worn teeth should be replaced to avoid damage to the lip and the bucket body and to maintain the effectiveness of the bucket assembly.
Replacing damaged teeth is an expensive and time-consuming task. If the teeth become worn or damaged, workers must stop any excavation taking place to replace the worn or damaged teeth. Replacement teeth for excavators are relatively expensive parts that are made from relatively large quantities of hard materials such as carbon steel. The cost of the replacement teeth as well as the cost of the manpower used to replace worn or damaged teeth with replacement teeth inevitably results in increased project costs. In addition, replacing worn or damaged teeth frequently consumes the time of many workers and can result in project delays.
One factor which contributes to the increased frequency of damaged teeth is the lateral movement of the teeth during digging. During digging, the individual teeth can move from side-to-side. The lateral movement of the teeth causes them to repeatedly contact adjacent structures such as adjacent lip shrouds. This can result in increased wear on the teeth and increased stress. Consequently, frequent replacement of the teeth is needed in many instances.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a lip assembly for an excavation bucket assembly which can reduce the frequency of replacing worn or damaged teeth. Embodiments of the invention are directed to this and other problems.